This invention relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly to, a semiconductor device with a trench interconnect that is buried into an interconnect trench formed in organic insulation film, and relates to a method for making the semiconductor device.
Along with the development in micro-structuring of semiconductor device, Cu films with a low resistivity have been used instead of Al film. Also, with the formation of multi-layer interconnects, the planarization of surface is further desired. Thus, a so-called trench interconnect formed by burying conductive film into a trench formed in interlayer insulation film has been used.
A known method for forming the trench interconnect of copper (Cu) buried into a trench that is formed in inorganic insulation film is described in S. Lakshminarayanan et al., xe2x80x9cDual Damascene Copper Metallization Processing Using Chemical-Mechanical Polishingxe2x80x9d, Proceedings of 1994 VLSI Multilevel Interconnection Conference, pp.49-55, 1994. Referring to FIGS. 1A to 1F, this method is explained. First, as shown in FIG. 1A, first inorganic film 2 of about 2 xcexcm thick is deposited on a silicon substrate 1, and then a first interconnect trench 3 of about 500 nm deep is formed by dry etching.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1B, first Ti film 4 and first Cu film 5 are sequentially deposited by sputtering, thereby the first interconnect trench 3 is filled with.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the first Cu film 5 is removed polishing by the CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) method, and further the first Ti film 4 is removed using diluted hydrofluoric acid. Thus, a first trench interconnect 5a of the first Cu film 5 and a barrier metal layer 4a of the first Ti film 4 are formed.
Further, though not shown, implanting boron (B) onto the surface of the first trench interconnect 5a, a protection layer is formed on the surface of the first trench interconnect 5a. 
Then, as shown in FIG. 1D, second inorganic insulation film 6 of silicon oxide is formed on the entire surface, and then a second interconnect trench 7a and a first interlayer connection hole 7b are formed by photolithography and dry etching.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1E, second Ti film 8 and second Cu film 9 are sequentially formed by sputtering, thereby the second interconnect trench 7a and the first interlayer connection hole 7b are filled with.
Then, as shown in FIG. 1F, the second Cu film 9 is removed polishing by the CMP method, and further the second Ti film 8 is removed using diluted hydrofluoric acid. Thus, a second trench interconnect 9a on the second layer, and a plug 9b connecting between the first trench interconnect 5a and the second trench interconnect 9a are formed.
This method is also applicable to the case that organic insulation film is used as interlayer insulation film. Such examples are described in D. C. Edelstein et al., Proceedings of 1993 VLSI Multilevel Interconnection Conference, pp. 511-513, 1994 and Japanese patent application laid-open No.4-28232 (1992).
A semiconductor device disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No.4-28232 is, as shown in FIG. 2E, composed of organic insulation film 21 formed on a lower trench interconnect 19, an interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 22 formed in the organic insulation film 21, inorganic insulation film 23 formed on the sidewall of the interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 22, and an upper trench interconnect and plug 24 buried into the interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 22. Also disclosed is effects to avoid the direct contact between the organic insulation film 21 and the upper trench interconnect and plug 24, to keep the closeness between the upper trench interconnect and plug 24 and the organic insulation film 21, and to prevent the defect occurrence caused by moisture absorption of the organic insulation film 21.
Referring to FIGS. 2A to 2E, a method of forming the trench interconnect disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No.4-28232 is explained. Meanwhile, in this method, gold (Au) is used as metal for the trench interconnect and plug 19, 24, instead of copper.
First, as shown in FIG. 2A, a first interlayer connection hole 13 is formed in inorganic insulation film, which is of silicon oxide, formed on a silicon substrate 11. Then, tungsten (W) film 14 and Au film 15 are deposited on the entire surface, and while leaving only a region for interconnect, unnecessary part of the tungsten (W) film 14 and Au film 15 is removed by photolithography and dry etching.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2B, first organic insulation film 16 of polyimide-system organic resin is formed on the entire surface, and then a first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17 is formed, at part to form an interconnect later, using photolithography and dry etching.
The sidewall of the first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17 is vertical or has such a slope that the trench width decreases in the downward direction and that is close to vertical in the upward direction.
Then, first protection film 18 of inorganic insulation film is deposited on the entire surface, and is etched back by anisotropic reactive ion etching, thereby being left only on the sidewall of the first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2C, Au film is buried into the first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17 by the plating method, thereby a first trench interconnect and plug 19 is formed.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2D, second protection film 20 of inorganic insulation film is further formed on the entire surface. Then, by photolithography and dry etching, the second protection film 20 is left covering the first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17, over the first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17 and in a wider region than the width of the first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17. The other region of the second protection film 20 is removed.
Then, second organic insulation film 21 of polyimide-system resin film is formed, and a second interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 22 is formed over and inside the first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17, with a narrower width than the width of the first interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 17. Subsequently, on the sidewall of the second interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 22, third protection film 23 of inorganic insulation film is formed.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2E, Au film is buried into the second interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole 22 and a second trench interconnect and plug 24 is formed.
After that, the process above is repeated when forming a further multi-layer interconnect.
However, in the method described in S. Lakshminarayanan et al., which uses the inorganic insulation film 6, there exists the barrier metal film 8a around the trench interconnect 9a and the plug 9b. Therefore, when the interconnect width decreases due to the design rule reduction, there is a problem that the ratio (deposition ratio) of main conductive layer (Cu) to the entire interconnect tends to reduce and thereby effective resistivity tends to increase.
Also, there is a problem that the interlayer connection resistance increases due to the existence of the barrier metal film 8a. 
Further, in the inorganic insulation film 6, it is difficult to control an increase in capacitance between interconnects or layers occurring with the micro-structuring of device and therefore a delay of circuit cannot be solved. Thus, it is not suitable for the micro-structuring of device.
In contrast with this, in the method described in D. C. Edelstein et al., which uses the organic insulation film, it is possible to control an increase in capacitance between interconnects or layers occurring with the micro-structuring of device. However, since the barrier metal is required to cope with the problem of moisture absorption, an increase in effective resistivity or interlayer connection resistance occurring with the micro-structuring of device cannot be suppressed.
In Japanese patent application laid-open No.4-28232, which discloses the trench interconnect that conductive film is buried into the trench formed in organic insulation film, the inorganic insulation film 23 is provided on the sidewall of the interconnect trench 22 not to contact directly the organic insulation film 21 with the trench interconnect 24, and the width of interconnect is varied between up and down parts so as to improve the closeness therebetween. In this case, the protection by the inorganic insulation film 23 on the sidewall of the interconnect trench 22 is effective by itself.
However, with the development of micro-structuring of pattern, the micro-structuring of trench interconnect and a reduction in connection margin becomes significant. Therefore, it becomes difficult to control the dimensions or shape so that the dimensions are varied between up and down parts of the micro-structured trench interconnect. In particular, for a border-less structure that the trench interconnect and the interlayer connection hole have same dimensions and no connection margin is given, its application is very difficult. Also, when hetero-metal junction is included at the interlayer connection part of a multi-layer interconnect system, since the interlayer connection resistance increases, the delay of circuit cannot be suppressed.
On the other hand, when Cu is used for the trench interconnect 24 in Japanese patent application laid-open No.4-28232, depending on the kind of the inorganic insulation film 23 on the sidewall, Cu in the trench interconnect 24 diffuses into the inorganic insulation film 23 and permeates into neighboring regions, and moisture in the organic insulation film 21 permeates into the trench interconnect 24. Therefore, this may badly affect the long-term reliability of device. Further, when the permittivity of the inorganic insulation film 23 is large, the delay of circuit may not be suppressed due to the increased floating capacitance.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a semiconductor device that an increase in effective resistivity or interlayer connection resistance occurring with the micro-structuring of interconnect can be suppressed as well as reducing the floating capacitance.
According to the invention, a method for making a semiconductor device, comprises the steps of:
forming an organic insulation film to cover a first interconnect or electrode formed on a substrate;
forming an interconnect trench by removing the organic insulation film by etching;
forming a first inorganic insulation film on the organic insulation film to cover the interconnect trench;
introducing nitrogen into at least surface part of the first inorganic insulation film;
forming an interlayer connection hole reaching the first interconnect or electrode by removing the first inorganic insulation film and the organic insulation film inside the interconnect trench and on the first interconnect or electrode by etching;
forming a second inorganic insulation film on the first inorganic insulation film to cover the interconnect trench and the interlayer connection hole;
introducing nitrogen into at least surface part of the second inorganic insulation film;
removing the second inorganic insulation film on the first interconnect or electrode and leaving the second inorganic insulation film on the sidewall of the interconnect trench and the interlayer connection hole; and
burying a conductive material into the interconnect trench and the interlayer connection hole, thereby forming a second interconnect or electrode in the interconnect trench, and forming a buried conductive layer connecting between the first interconnect or electrode and the second interconnect or electrode through the interlayer connection hole in the interlayer connection hole.
According to another aspect of the invention, a semiconductor device, comprises:
an organic insulation film in which an interconnect trench is formed;
an inorganic insulation film which is formed covering the side of the interconnect trench and into at least surface part of which nitrogen is introduced; and
a trench interconnect or electrode which is buried into the interconnect trench through the inorganic insulation film.
According to another aspect of the invention, a semiconductor device, comprises:
a first interconnect or electrode formed on a substrate;
an organic insulation film which is formed covering the first interconnect or electrode and in which an interconnect trench and an interlayer connection hole reaching from the interconnect trench to the first interconnect or electrode are formed;
an inorganic insulation film which is formed covering the side of the interconnect trench and the interlayer connection hole, and into at least surface part of which nitrogen is introduced;
a second interconnect or electrode buried into the interconnect trench through the inorganic insulation film; and
a buried conductive layer which is formed in the interlayer connection hole and connects between the between the first interconnect or electrode and the second interconnect or electrode.
In this invention, the sidewall of interconnect trench formed in organic insulation film or the sidewall of interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole formed in organic insulation film is covered with inorganic insulation film. In addition, nitrogen is introduced into at least surface part of the inorganic insulation film.
Thus, between the interconnect or electrode (hereinafter also referred to as xe2x80x98trench interconnectxe2x80x99) buried in the interconnect trench and the organic insulation film, or between the trench interconnect and buried conductive layer buried in the interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole and the organic insulation film, nitrogen-contained inorganic insulation film, e.g., oxide-nitride film (SiON film) exists. So, the permeation of conductive material into the periphery of trench interconnect etc. and the permeation of moisture into the periphery of organic insulation film can be further suppressed.
Also, as the inorganic insulation film on the sidewall of the interconnect trench and interlayer connection hole, silicon oxide film including fluorine is used. Although the inorganic insulation film exists between up and down or right and left trench interconnects, since silicon oxide film including fluorine has a low permittivity, the floating capacitance occurring between up and down or right and left trench interconnects can be further reduced.
Further, by burying a conductive material into the interconnect trench and the interlayer connection hole, a second interconnect or electrode is formed in the interconnect trench, and a buried conductive layer connecting between the first interconnect or electrode and the second interconnect or electrode through the interlayer connection hole is formed in the interlayer connection hole.
For example, a buried conductive layer, which is of the same conductive material as the trench interconnect, is formed, and through this buried conductive layer, between up and down trench interconnects or between the trench interconnect and a normal interconnect are connected.
Therefore, without using barrier metal generally having a high permittivity, the trench interconnects can be connected each other. So, an increase in effective resistivity or interlayer connection resistance occurring with the micro-structuring of interconnect can be suppressed.